Easy ejector seat with skeletal crash safety beam

ABSTRACT

An arrangement in passenger vehicles, that diverts the impact energy in impacts away from the passengers to the remaining mass of the vehicle thereby protecting the passengers, and in the same arrangement provides utilitarian access to the vehicle, such utilitarian access making it possible to both install multi-element contoured surround seats for passengers and the driver, and also a safety device for head-on collision protection that obviates the need for conventional seat belts and front impact airbags. An indo-skeletal structural arrangement proposed for the vehicle, provides further benefits by targeting the strength of the vehicle to protect passengers while minimizing other massive elements in the vehicle.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation in part of the application entitled“Easy Ejector with skeletal crash safety beam” U.S. Ser. No. 08/936,626filed Sep. 24, 1997, U.S. Ser. No. 09/404,475, filed Sep. 24, 1999, nowU.S. Pat. No. 6,547,315 U.S. Ser. No. 09/435,830 filed Nov. 11, 1999,and claims priority from U.S. Ser. No. 08/936,626 filed Sep. 24 ,1997,U.S. Ser. No. 09/404,475, U.S. Ser. No. 09/435,830, U.S. Ser. No.60/195298, U.S. Ser. No. 60,226,570, EPO Ser. No. 98948260.9-2306, EPOSer. No. 00203896.6.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

REFERENCE TO A MICRO FICHE APPENDIX

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention defines a means to incorporate in passenger motorvehicles, unique safety arrangements particularly for lateral or sideimpacts that provide energy absorption by the mass of the vehicle butdecouple the passenger from the impact acceleration and decelerationthat is provided by the mass of the vehicle, thereby protecting thepassengers during such collisions. Moreover, the same arrangementsynergistically provides utility in access, comfort and further safetyin the operating position for passengers and the driver.

2. Description of the Related Art

In the past safety of passengers was not always the priority inpassenger vehicle design. In the evolution of motor vehicle design thestructure moved from a chassis that held together the mechanicalcomponents of the vehicle—a structure that was then attached to apassenger compartment or to passenger seats. The design of the structurewas to hold together the working components of the vehicle—a criticalaspect at the time. Thereafter in more recent times right up to thepresent, Exo-skeletal designs have been the dominant paradigm. Hererigid shells were constructed to hold both the mechanical components andthe passengers in fixed positions. However such fixed shell structureshave had limited success in protecting passengers and drivers when thereare lateral collisions as passengers undergo the same impact relatedaccelerations and decelerations as the remaining parts of the vehicle,as space limitations don't allow for “crumple zones” as in the case ofimpact protection for head on collisions. Passengers are particularlyvulnerable to side impacts as they cannot take preemptive measures aswith head-on collisions where there is speed control and directionalcontrol that is available. As vehicle speeds have increasedsubstantially in the last several decades, these safety considerationsfor passengers have become critical and urgent. Vehicledesigners—particularly automobile designers—have risen admirably to thetask by incorporating myriads of devices and additions within the rigidshell paradigm to minimize risk in the event of collisions. Such devicesinclude restraints such as seat belts and certain types of protectiveair bags. However, there are limits within the rigid shell paradigm fortwo reasons: First, the energy of impact cannot be easily diverted awayfrom passengers into the remaining mass of the vehicle on impact.Second, the rigid shell needs to support high shear stresses on lateralimpact and related compressive loads to the passenger compartment of thevehicle a factor that can only be addressed with greater mass of thevehicle that will impact its performance.

Another area of interest in passenger vehicles is to provide, in synergywith the above contributions, utility and comfort of passengers anddrivers and further synergistic head-on collision protection.

There are four areas of Background art that are related to the presentinvention. These are: vehicles with sliding seats, safety arrangementsaddressing lateral impacts on passenger vehicles, air bags and othershock absorbing devices, and miscellaneous safety devices for frontalimpacts. None of the inventions in these areas individually orcollectively state or imply any aspects of the present invention.Moreover, none of this Background art even addresses the issue of energytransfer away from the passengers to the mass of the vehicle on impactand concurrently provide a mechanism for easy access to the vehicle withejector seats. This is despite the urgent need in the car industry forsuch safety and utility. Moreover the novelty of the present inventionis underscored as it provides solutions hitherto unidentified in a verylarge and competitive industry that is acutely aware of these needs andis constantly in search of new solutions to them.

Sloan U.S. Pat. No. 3,071,407 (1963) describes a single rear bench seat(lines 4-45)—full length (C1-L55), that can slide out of either side ofthe vehicle. It describes a door structure that may be attached to theseat and slide across and through the passenger compartment of thevehicle as the seat slides out. This invention does not state or implyany safety considerations in its structure, moreover such a bench seaton slides, in the event of a lateral collision on the doors will focusthe impact energy on the passengers and these passengers will be theprincipal casualties as the mass of the vehicle slides away littleharmed. This will be the case even in the embodiment described where thedoors are fixed to the seat and slides through the passenger compartmentwith the seat. Moreover, it cannot be used in a front seat even for itslimited functionality with doors fixed to the seat as drivinginstrumentation (steering wheel etc) will not allow a door to slidethrough the compartment. Finally it does not provide any comfortfeatures for passengers over and above a bench seat. Mach U.S. Pat. No.2,753,947 (1956) describes a sliding bench seat for the access of theengine of the vehicle it does not address the issue of safety ofpassengers or access utility. It is expected to perform similarly toSloan in an impact on the doors or around the side profile of thepassengers in the vehicle. Solomon U.S. Pat. No. 2,758,872 (1953)provides a sliding bench seat that goes through the doorway and for thesame reasons as Sloan does not provide protection in side impacts orprovide any comfort features over and above a bench seat. Cyphert U.S.Pat. No. 3,944,277 (1976) describes a seat mounted on a sliding platformthat has a door at the end and protective walls around it. Thearrangement being designed for the utility of the operator to reachpoints away from the body of the vehicle without dismounting thevehicle. This invention like Sloan does not state or imply any safetyconsiderations in its use. Moreover there is no expressed or impliedreference to the utility of mounting and dismounting the vehicle or forthe comfort of the operator or the passengers except for the ability forthe platform to move out to give the operator greater reach away fromthe vehicle body. Rees U.S. Pat. No. 5,213,300 (1993) describes internaldesign structure for slide arrangements that allow forward and backwardmovement of the passenger seats in vehicles. This like many otherinventions prior to it relate to the structure of the slides to adjustthe position of the seats for passenger comfort in the direction ofmotion of the vehicle.

All the above items of background art relate to sliding seats. None ofthe above background art related to sliding seats have stated or impliedsafety considerations. Moreover, none of them provide utility formounting and dismounting a vehicle except for a bench seat that slidesout on either side of the vehicle, or provide comfort features exceptfor seating arrangement on a bench seat and in one of the above—thelateral movement for convenience of the operator.

Maier U.S. Pat. No. 2,148,950 (1939) provides a laterally bracedpassenger compartment that braces a rigid shell body of a vehicle.Barenyi U.S. Pat. No. 2,710,222 (1955) provides a stiffening for thebottom plate of a vehicle body. Catlin U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,428 (1997)provides a design for a rigid shell structure . Guertler U.S. Pat. No.5,464,266 (1995) uses stiffening arrangements for the floor of thevehicle as a component of a rigid shell vehicle body. Masuda U.S. Pat.No. 5,671,968 (1968) describes a strengthened rigid shell for thepassenger compartment Oliver U.S. Pat. No. 4,533,172 (1985) describes athree part rigid shell structure for motor vehicles with the centralsection for passengers Sinnhuber U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,509 (1991)describes an arrangement that transfers impact energy from lateralimpacts to the rigid body of the vehicle but does so through rigidmembers that include elements in the seats. The seats have limitedlateral movement and are not free to move independent of the vehiclebody in the event of a collision, thereby placing the passengers on thedirect path of the energy transfer Maeda U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,604 (1985)describes a lateral brace for the seat arrangement of the vehicle withina rigid vehicle body structure thereby distributing the impact energy toother parts of the rigid body structure. Sacco U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,618(1995) describes a lateral stiffening element that braces the rigidvehicle body in the region of the seats. Bhalsod U.S. Pat. No. 5,716,094(1998) describes a pusher block that engages the seat in the event of alateral impact thereby providing a rigid member between the rigid bodystructure and the seats that can transfer impact energy to the seats.

All of the above items of background art related to bracing a rigid bodystructure and provide stiffening mechanisms within the rigid shellstructure to distribute energy of lateral impact. None of these items ofbackground art provide mechanisms to transfer energy away frompassengers in lateral impacts. or provide other safety arrangements orprovide utility for mounting and dismounting the vehicle or providecomfort features for passengers in the operating position.

Baber U.S. Pat. No. 5,725,265 (1998) presents airbags for front and rearvehicle bumpers that deploy on impact. Such devices cannot beimplemented on the side of the vehicle as a deceleration zone is notavailable under operating conditions as may be made available in thefront and back of the vehicle. Moreover, as this airbag deploys onimpact it creates a deceleration zone by pushing its own vehicle awaythat may actually increase the impulse forces acting on the passengers.Mercier U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,076 (1974) describers similar external frontand back airbags and uses probes that protrude from the vehicle at thefront and back to deploy the airbags. Such apparatus cannot be installedon the sides of the vehicle, as clearances are small. Stirling U.S. Pat.No. 5,131,703 (1992) describes a fluid filled chamber around the vehiclethat will provide a deceleration zone on impact—frontal rear or lateral.However this arrangement requires the deceleration zone to be presentduring normal operating conditions that will reduce the maneuverabilityof vehicles if deployed on the sides of the vehicle. Park U.S. Pat. No.4,995,659 (1991) describes a gas filled chamber deployed around thevehicle. Such a chamber is normally inflated under normal conditions andreduces maneuverability of the vehicle. Campbell U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,777(1989) describes a bumper that can be deployed selectively by fillingwith gas. This bumper is effective when extended only. It is notdesigned to be deployed when the vehicle is in motion , as it willreduce maneuverability. Hartmann U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,427 (1998)describes a mechanism that transfers fluid from one airbag to another onimpact. The airbag that is deployed is normally in an extended positionto absorb the impact energy and provide the deceleration zone. However,such an extended airbag will reduce the maneuverability of the vehicle.There is a literature (“Extended Bumper and Glass-Plastic glazingmethods to reduce intrusion and ejection in severe motor vehiclecrashes”. C. C. Clark 1993. 26th Symposium on Automotive Technology andAutomation. Aachen Germany., “Airbag bumpers inflated just before thecrash” C. C. Clark., William A. Young. 1994. SAE Technical Paper941051., “The crash anticipating extended airbag bumper system”. C. C.Clark. 1994. Fourteenth International Technical Conference on theenhanced safety of vehicles. Munich Germany., “Airbags as a means toreduce crash loads and intrusion, and increase inter-vehicularcompatibility.” C. C. Clark. 1995. International Conference on Pelvicand Lower extremity injuries-Proceedings Washington D.C., HumanTransportation Fatalities and Protection against Rear and Side CrashLoads by the Airstop Restraint” Carl Clark and Carl Blechschmidt. 1965.The Ninth Stapp Car Conference.) IDS, and background art on theconstruction of external airbags including deployment proactively withradar or other devices. This entire literature is limited to the use ofproactive external airbags mounted on vehicles with rigid structuresthat include the passenger. There is no reference in this literature tothe proactive detection of impact explicitly or implicitly creating adeceleration zone for passenger protection internally, relative to thevehicle as in the present invention. Moreover, this literature isfocussed on external airbags for front impact protection with forexample rigid penetration buffers to negotiate posts and trees, unlikethe present invention which does not prescribe external airbags forfront impacts. Furthermore, as this literature describes externalairbags without perforation shields their implementability isquestionable as, unlike internal airbags that are in relativelyprotected environments, impact with external airbags often occurs withobjects with sharp points and edges that are likely to perforate theexternal airbags. The Present invention requires perforation shields forexternal airbags.

All the above items of background art relate to air bag devices forsafety in vehicles. However, none of these references take theintegrated approach of the present invention, as more fully explainedbelow, which comprises proactive deployment of both internal andexternal air bags, together with sliding seat members and other devices.Moreover while the present invention can function even without thedeployment of external airbags, either proactive or reactive, takentogether these items provide protection for passengers which is morethan the sum of the parts. Furthermore, none of the protection airbagsdisclosed, related to external air bags having protective perforationshields that further enhance their efficacy. Moreover none of thesedevices provide energy transferring mechanisms away from the passengerin a lateral impact or provide other safety features. Moreover they donot provide any utility features for passengers in mounting anddismounting the vehicle or provide comfort features to the passengers.

Perras U.S. Pat. No. 2,873,122 (1959) which describes an invention whereupon a head-on collision the seat projects a curved protector around thepassenger designed to protect the passenger. This curved protectorretracts into the seat under normal operating conditions. It is notclear how effective such a mechanism will be as the acceleration of thepassenger forward relative to the vehicle may precede that of curvedprotector's release from the seat. Satzinger U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,805(1976) describes seat belts for frontal collisions that provide safetyfor vehicles. Such seat belts are in common use. However, they sufferfrom the drawback that they restrain the body of the passenger in thenarrow regions covered by such belts which may cause injury as otherparts of the body are not restrained. Moreover such belts are notpopular, while in common use as the belts are in constant contact withthe body—a factor that is not often relished. Pulling U.S. Pat. No.3,981,520 (1976) describes an arrangement where that provides passengermovement and protection in frontal impacts. On impact the passengermoves in the vertical plane of motion to a more protected position whileside firing airbags provide frontal protection. This system ofdeployment of airbags for frontal collision protection is similar toother frontal airbag systems. They are necessary as restraining systemsduring the collision but need to be retracted in conventional passengercompartments to give passengers access to their seats while mounting anddismounting the vehicle. Erickson U.S. Pat. No. 2,777,531 (1957)describes an invention that rotates the seat of the passenger therebyrestraining and protecting the passenger on impact taking advantage ofthe inertia prior to impact to endow the passenger with rotationalenergy that changes the position of the seat. Such rotation can injurethe passenger with impacts at present day passenger vehicle speeds.

All the above items of background art relate to frontal impactprotection. None of these items provide a device that is normallydeployed during operation, and provides a broad area of restraint acrossthe body for the entire upper body, head and neck, without a need forchanging the orientation of the passenger. Moreover none of these itemsprovide any protection for side impacts or provide utility for mountingand dismounting the vehicle or for the comfort of the passengers in theoperating position.

SUMMARY

In view of these prior references what would be useful is an arrangementthat diverts the impact energy in lateral or side impacts away from thepassengers to the remaining mass of the vehicle thereby protecting thepassengers, and in the same arrangement provides utilitarian access tothe vehicle, such utilitarian access making it possible to both installmulti-element contoured surround seats for passengers and the driver,and also a safety device for head-on collision protection that obviatesthe need for conventional seat belts and front impact airbags. Moreover,it would be useful to have a synergistic structural arrangement for thevehicle that targets strength of the vehicle to protect passengers whileminimizing other massive elements in the vehicle.

The present invention includes these objects and advantages.

OBJECTS & ADVANTAGES

Some of the objects and advantages of the present invention are, toprovide an arrangement that diverts the impact energy in lateral or sideimpacts away from the passengers to the remaining mass of the vehiclethereby protecting the passengers but decelerating the impacting objectwith the remaining mass of the vehicle. Moreover the arrangementsynergistically provides a means for utilitarian easy access to thevehicle for passengers and drivers alike and allows the installation ofmulti-element surround contoured seats for the comfort and protection ofpassengers. This arrangement differs sharply from the Background art inthat it does not simply offer to the impacting body a reinforced rigidshell where the passenger is treated as part of this integral unit, butrather provides selective and differential treatment of the mass of thepassengers and driver of the vehicle vis-à-vis the remaining mass of thevehicle. Furthermore the present invention differs sharply from theBackground art in that the resulting structure synergistically permitsthe installation of contoured multi-element surround seats and a uniquesafety harness that protects passengers in head-on collisions, both ofwhich may not be implementable without the slide or other movingarrangements for seats on either side of the vehicle in the presentinvention.

Another object and Advantage of the present invention is the gravityslide drive and a related shock absorbing arrangement relative to thefixed body members of the vehicle ad the terrain traversed by thevehicle, for my arrangement for which there is no counterpart in theBackground art. This allows further Utility and weight and energy savingin implementing the above elements of the present invention.

Another Object and Advantage of the present invention includes Externalside Airbags that differ sharply from the Background art in that for thefirst time they proactively create a “Just in Time” deceleration zoneboth for the passenger relative to the vehicle and also for the vehiclerelative to the impacting body, for the lateral or side impact while notremaining in an extended position under normal operating conditions ofthe vehicle.

Another Object and advantage of this invention is a perforationresistant shield for external airbag protection that would reduce theprobability of deployment failure. The background art does not providefor this function in externally deploying airbags.

Another object and advantage of the present invention is a indo-skeletalstructure of the vehicle body that permits the energy transfer from thelateral or side impact through compressive members to the body of thevehicle. Unlike the Background art this indo-skeletal structure isdesigned to transfer energy to the body of the vehicle withouttransferring it to the passengers and driver of the vehicle. Thepassengers are targeted for protection with “Safety zones”.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a front elevation of a seating arrangementsin a passenger vehicle. This figure is an illustration of the inventionin the normal vehicle operating condition. The impacting body isrepresented on the left as still distant but advancing towards the abovepassenger vehicle.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of the same vehicle arrangement as in FIG. 1,except that the impacting object has advanced towards the passengervehicle adequately to trigger the distance and velocity sensors.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of the same vehicle as in FIGS. 1 and 2,except that the distance and velocity sensors have deployed the externalAirbags. They may also provide delayed deployment of the internalAirbags.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of the same vehicle as in FIGS. 1,2 and 3except that the impacting object has made impact with deceleration andenergy absorption provided by the External airbags and the shockabsorbers and resisted by the mass of the vehicle through compressionmembers as noted below. The Passengers and seats are free to move awayfrom the impact on the secondary slides as the internal Airbag deploys,pushing out the Primary slide on the side away from the impact.

FIGS. 1D, 2D, 3D and 4D illustrate an alternative embodiment with theshock absorbers mounted internal to the protector shield.

FIGS. 1C, 2C, 3C and 4C illustrate an alternative embodiment that has anauxiliary beam mounted behind the seat with a high section of thecentral member of the skeletal structure behind the seat to abut theauxiliary beam.

FIGS. 1B, 2B, 3B and 4B illustrate an alternative embodiment with acenter console.

FIGS. 1F, 2F, 3F and 4F illustrate an alternative embodiment with acenter console that is crushable and as a result decreases the need forthe ejection of the passenger on the further side of the vehicle atimpact.

FIGS. 1G, 2G, 3G and 4G illustrate an alternative embodiment with centerairbags that are a part of a passive airbag system to protect passengersduring lateral impact by absorbing some of the impact energy but moreimportantly providing a means to inflate head and neck protectionairbags and other anatomical micro airbags mounted in the vicinity ofthe human body. This particular embodiment has a crushable centerconsole as well.

FIGS. 5 and 6 is an illustration of the seating arrangement as used forloading and unloading passengers and driver. FIG. 5 represents the openposition and FIG. 6 represents the closed position.

FIGS. 5A and 6A illustrate an embodiment of the current invention withthe protector shield/shock absorbers/external airbag hinging down tosupport the primary slide. A useful feature for larger vehicles withmore than a single seat on each side.

FIGS. 7-9 is an illustration of the Gravity slide drive that may beembodied in the invention. FIG. 7 is an illustration of the GravitySlide drive at the end of the unload cycle for passengers. FIG. 8 is anillustration of the Gravity slide drive at the beginning of the Loadcycle for passengers. FIG. 9 is an illustration of the left side loadedand ready for operation of the vehicle and the right side at the startof the loading operation, emphasizing the independence of the two sidesof the Gravity slide drive mechanism.

FIGS. 10 A and B are an illustration of Isometric views of the presentinvention on one side of the vehicle for clarity. FIG. 10 C is anillustration of a Plan view of the present invention for one side of thevehicle.

FIGS. 10 A1, 10B1 are isometric views of an alternative embodiment witha vertical extension/“safety cage” to protect passengers further. FIG.10 C1 is a plan view of the same arrangement.

FIG. 11. is an illustration of the position of the “Safety Zones” thatare targeted for protection with the Protector shields.

FIG. 12. A is an illustration of an isometric view of the Seatarrangement. FIGS. 12B13 and 12C is an illustration of the Plan and SideElevation of the seat arrangement. FIG. 12 Al illustrates an alternativeembodiment of the seat arrangement. FIGS. 12B1 and 12C1 illustrate theplan and elevation of this embodiment. FIG. 12 D1 illustrates anembodiment of the child seat. FIG. 12 E1 illustrates an embodiment witha different external profile for the seat providing greater protectionto the passenger. FIGS. 12 F2 and 12 G2 illustrate isometric views of anembodiment of the safety harness and 12 H2, 12 I 2, 12 J 2 illustrate anisometric view of another embodiment of the safety harness, in thenormal state, with front impact anatomical passive micro air bagdeployed, and the head and neck anatomical micro airbags deployedrespectively.

FIG. 13. is an illustration of a drawing of isometric view of thepresent invention.

FIG. 14 illustrates a horizontal cross section of an embodiment of thepresent invention at the level of the upper primary slides.

FIG. 15 illustrates a side impact with internal and external airbagsdeployed and the passengers ejected away from the impact.

FIG. 15B illustrates the deployment of the anatomical passive microairbags in a front impact and the passenger impact protection with theharness and shield. The left side passenger illustrates the normalposition for reference.

FIG. 15 C illustrates a detailed view of the safety harness and itscomponents.

FIG. 16A illustrates a passenger ready to leave the vehicle. The safetyharness/shield is still in place.

FIG. 16B shows the passenger in FIG. 16 A after releasing the safetyharness/shield from the locks.

FIG. 16C shows the same passenger in 16 A,B but with the safetyharness/shield now well above the head so that the passengers leave thevehicle by simply standing up.

FIG. 16D shows the safety harness/shield unlocked from its mounts withinthe vehicle, illustrating the flexibility to move within the vehicleunder these conditions but not having the visibility to drive, therebyensuring that the safety harness/shield is used under drivingconditions.

FIGS. 17 A,B show a schematic diagram of the passive air cushion systemdisclosed in this invention.

FIGS. 18 A-J shows different views of the wheel chair arrangementsdeployed as passenger support mechanisms.

FIGS. 19 A-E show an embodiment of the customizable contouredmulti—element seat.

FIGS. 20 A-C show an embodiment of the indo skeletal structure thatincludes special arrangements for front impact protection and otherfeatures for passenger convenience and comfort. FIG. 20 D shows a crosssection of the indo skeletal structure, illustrating the motion controlelements and shock absorbing elements.

FIGS. 21 A-F show other alternative embodiments for front impactprotection.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

101—Central Member of Indo-skeletal structure

102—Lower Primary Slide

102′—Safety Beam Elements (may be a part of 2)

103—Side impact shock absorbers

104—External Air Bags

105—Perforation Shields

106—Protector Shields

107—Upper Primary Slide

107′—Slide Beam (may be a part of 7)

108—Auxiliary Beam.(fixed or sliding)

109—Multi-element contoured passenger seat

110—Vehicle Shell/Body

111—Secondary Slides/Impact decouplers

112—Locking devices

112A—Pivot for Protector shield

113—Proactive Velocity/Distance Detectors

114—Internal side impact airbag

115—Spring device for manual slide

116—Inside door open button

117—outside door open button

118—Beam pivot for Gravity slide drive ejector

119—Safety Harness

120—Support for Safety Harness

121—Bottom of seating surface of the contoured seat

122—Contoured arm rests

123—Child seat attachment

124—Impacting body

125—Vertical extensions/Safety Cage (fixed or sliding)

126—Center console

127—Secondary slide/Center console locks

128—Instrumentation

129—Center airbags-energy absorption/passive head and neck anatomicalairbag system

130—Safety Harness Shield

131—Safety Harness—Anatomical passive micro air bag and visco-elasticbuffer

132—Safety Harness elbow

133—Safety Harness extending upper arm

134—Safety Harness Pivoting lower arm

135—Safety Harness Head and neck anatomical micro airbags (active orpassive)

136—Safety Harness Adjustable Head restraint

137—Safety Harness Hinged support

138—Safety Harness Locking Support

139—Safety Harness passive micro airbag air reservoir

140—Adjustable Hinge support on seat

141—Foot rest

142—Sacrificial chamber

143—Micro air-cushion—displacement function

144—Micro air cushion—support function

145—Valves—air flow/fluid flow

146—protected entity

147—Fluid paths

148—Wheel Chair Conversion—Seat lower cushion and support structure

149—Wheel Chair Conversion—Chair Clamps

150—Wheel Chair Conversion—Chair Cross support

151—Wheel Chair Conversion—Primary Pivot with locks for Rear Wheelretraction

152—Wheel Chair Conversion—Principal Rear Wheel Support

153—Wheel Chair Conversion—Rear Wheel Support strut

154—Wheel Chair Conversion—Secondary Pivot for Rear Wheel retraction

155—Wheel Chair Conversion—Spring loaded locking support Sleeve

156—Wheel Chair Conversion—Seat back

157—Wheel Chair Conversion—Primary Pivot with locks for front wheel

158—Wheel Chair Conversion—Wheel chair back pivot release

159—shadow vertebra—air cell retainer

160—shadow vertebra—lateral tilt return spring

161—shadow vertebra—upper fixed slot for lateral tilt return spring

162—shadow vertebra—support flange

163—shadow vertebra—upper slot for support flange

164—shadow vertebra—left body

165—shadow vertebra—right body

166—shadow vertebra—left upper air cell socket

167—shadow vertebra—right upper air cell socket

168—shadow vertebra—lateral tilt air cell visco elastic damper tube

169—shadow vertebra—lateral support arm connector

170—shadow vertebra——back support adjustable air cushions

171—shadow vertebra—left lower air cell socket

172—shadow vertebra—right lower air cell socket

173 shadow vertebra—lower slot of r support flange

174—lower sliding slot for lateral tilt return spring

175—shadow rib—body

176—shadow rib—adjustable air cushions

177—shadow rib—tilt control connectors

178—shoulder bolster

179—Shoulder bolster adjustable air cushions

180—back support adjustable air cushions

181—Neck lateral support with deploying passive micro air bag

182—Head lateral support arms with deploying passive micro air bag

183—Head rear support adjustable air cushions

184—Neck rear support adjustable air cushions

185—Lumbar support adjustable air cushions

186—Adjustable Hip bolster

187—Adjustable Pelvic support

188—Axial contraction system—Central body tube

189—Axial contraction system—Body extender tube

190—Axial contraction system—front end connector tube

191—Axial contraction system—back end connector tube

192—Axial contraction system—front end

193—Axial contraction system—back end

194—Axial contraction system—front module

195—Axial contraction system—rear module

196—Axial contraction system—front module crank

197—Axial contraction system—rear module crank

198—passenger support platform

601—Axial contraction system—first motion control elements

602—Axial contraction system—first shock absorbing elements

603—Axial contraction system—second motion control elements

604—Axial contraction system—second shock absorbing elements

605—Axial contraction system—support to central body tube

606—Axial contraction system—support to Body Extender tube

607—Axial contraction system—support to front end connector tube

608—Axial contraction system—support to back end connector tube

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

The present invention provides a passenger vehicle a structure thatsynergistically incorporates two functions. First, during lateral orside impacts a means to decouple from impact, and protect passengerswhile projecting the remaining mass of the vehicle to decelerate theimpacting body, and second, utility to passengers and drivers, inmounting and dismounting the vehicle with the comfort of contouredsurround seats. The arrangement may in some embodiments use anindo-skeletal beam that allows such embodiments to rely on compressiveforce transmission to transfer impact energy to the mass of the vehiclerather than shear loads that are required in the shell paradigm ofconstruction in most current passenger vehicles.

The present invention may use Primary and Secondary slides on each sideof the vehicle, to meet these objectives. The Primary slide has amongother attached devices, a protector shield that bears the impact forcein lateral or side impacts. Such protector shields may be hinged out foraccess if the sliding arrangement is not used. The Primary Slide mayengage a central indo-skeletal beam in some embodiments. The Secondaryslide is attached among other devices to possibly contoured surroundseats. This slide may be activated under impact to guide passengers intheir seats away from the impact zone.

The present invention may utilize a Safety Beam in the vicinity of theseats. However, there is an important advance over the Background art inthat the Beam does not lock the passengers on the path of the energytransfer, but rather, conducts the energy of impact away from thepassenger to the indo-skeletal frame or to the body members of the shell(collectively elements of the fixed body members) and thereby to themass of the vehicle allowing independent motion of the passengers awayfrom the impact.

The present invention may use proactively fired external airbags whichfor the first time provide a means to create a “Just in Time”deceleration zone on the side of a vehicle prior to impact but notdeployed under normal operating conditions of the vehicle. Notably,Background art for external airbags that are either extended undernormal operating conditions of the vehicle or require reactivedeployment cannot function effectively, as the former will impede themaneuverability of the vehicle and the latter will not be able to createa deceleration zone in time for the impact.

Overall this invention provides a “bottom up” paradigm for the design ofvehicles starting with the human environment and building outwards tothe vehicle—in stark contrast to the conventional approach of designthat starts with the vehicle and inserts within these constraints, thepassenger environment. Moreover, this invention embodies a two levelsafety system. The first or the primary level is passive and has anegligible probability of failure. The second level is active andpredictive or proactive, utilizing advanced technologies. However,complex advanced technology systems have the drawback of higherprobabilities of failure. Therefore while the second level can reducethe level of injury in serious crashes, there is a non trivialprobability of failure of this secondary system Therefore it isnecessary to build a primary system that is good enough in most cases toreduce injury levels in severe crashes. The paper in the Appendixincludes simulation results for an embodiment of the primary systemalone with a failure of the secondary system.

The following descriptions are for embodiments of the present invention.Deviations from this description in an embodiment is possible withoutdeviating from the present invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The following is a detailed description of some of the components ofthis embodiment. The seating arrangement of a passenger vehicle is shownin FIG. 1. The cross section of the central member of the indo-skeletalstructure (101) is fixed to the safety beam (102′) and the lower primaryslide (102). The Protector Shields (106) is firmly attached to the UpperPrimary slide (107), which slides on the lower Primary slide (102). (Theterms upper and lower being used for the slides to distinguish them andnot representing a relative elevation of the slides). The constructionof such protector shields would follow that of any impact resisting bodypanel member of a vehicle, with the usual weight strength tradeoffs.Such construction is well disclosed in the background art. The slidingarrangement may use single element or multiple element direct contactlow friction surfaces sliding on one another, roller bearings, ballbearing structures—all of which are well disclosed in the backgroundart. The Protector Shield(106) are designed to cover the required“safety zone” as noted on FIG. 11. The Upper Primary Slide (107) locksinto the Central member of the indo-skeletal structure (101) in theoperating position with locking devices (112). Such locking devices donot take any additional loads on impact, and may as a result follow theextensive background art for locking devices for example similarmechanisms to those used in automobile door locks. These locks may beactivated by the ignition key switch for additional safety while thevehicle is operational. The Protector Shield (106) has attached on theoutside a shock absorber (103), which may include external airbags(104). The construction of such shock absorbers follow the backgroundart. Such external airbag (104) are protected from sharp objects onimpact by a Perforation Shield (105). These perforation shields protectthe external airbag (and the passenger) from sharp objects. Theconstruction of such perforation resisting shields are well disclosed inthe background art. Such Perforation shields may be attached byconventional means to the outer surface of the airbag and retained inthe normal operating position using techniques used for airbags bothinternal and external disclosed in the background art. The Air Bag (104)is deployed with distance and velocity sensors (113) mounted on thePerforation shields (105). Distance and velocity sensors are used inother applications and their construction is well disclosed in thebackground art. The Upper Primary Slide (107), supports the secondaryslide/Impact decouplers (111). In this embodiment this is firmlyattached to the Upper Primary Slide until the impact when it isdecoupled to slide away from the impact. The Secondary slide arrangementmay use a friction based approach, or other approach , all of which arewell disclosed in the background art. This embodiment has contouredsurround Passenger Seats (109) that are mounted on the Secondary slides(111). These seats have internal Airbags (114) that deploy on impact andmay “unfurl” upwards to protect the head or upper body as well. Theconstruction of seat adjustment mechanisms are well disclosed in thebackground art. This Figure shows the impacting object on the leftapproaching the vehicle, but too distant to trigger any action.

In FIG. 2, the impacting object has moved to a position that can nowtrigger the distance and velocity sensors (113). These sensors triggerthe deployment of the External Airbags (104), and the shock absorbers(103). The internal airbags (114) may be triggered by conventional meansdisclosed in the prior art, explicitly or implicitly reacting toproactive or reactive impact detection. The internal air bags aredesigned to move the passengers and the passenger seats to the extentnecessary through a Motion Space to a Safe Position on primary impactdetection, and thereafter protect the protected entity—the passenger andthe seat. Thereafter as illustrated in FIG. 3, the External Airbags(104) and shock absorbers (103) deploy to provide the requireddeceleration zone for the impact. As a result on impact the energy ofimpact is partially absorbed by the External Air bag (104) and the ShockAbsorber (103) and the remaining energy transferred to the massivecomponents of the vehicle through the Protector Shield (106), the Upperand Lower Primary Slide/Safety Beam (107, 102, 102′) to the Centralelement of the Indo-skeletal frame (101) and the body of the vehicle.Notably, the Secondary slides (111) decouple and slide the passengerseats (109) with the passengers away outside the path of the impactforces and protected by the internal Airbag (114). The Upper PrimarySlide (107) on the side of the vehicle away from the impact is free toslide out with all devices mounted on it to provide a path for thesecondary slide (111) and the seats (109). In this situation it may beseen that the Upper Primary slide works as an impact-resisting beam onthe side of the impact and a release and support mechanism on the sideaway from the impact. FIG. 15 A illustrates the side impact with thedeployed internal and external airbags, and the displaced passengersaway from the impact in the vehicle sustaining the lateral impact. FIG.15 B illustrates the frontal impact support for the passenger on theright hand side. The Left hand passenger is shown in the normal positionfor comparison.

FIG. 14 illustrates a horizontal cross section of the embodiment at theheight of the upper primary slides (107). The central member of theindo-skeletal structure (101) is flanked by the upper primary slides(107) abutting the central member, with the protector shields (106) andthe shock absorbers that include the external airbags (103,104) at theouter end of the upper primary slides. The perforation shields are shownat the outer extreme of the shock aborbers and airbags. In thisembodiment there are two sets of upper primary slides on each side ofthe vehicle that can support two rows of seats (front and rear) one oneach side with its own protection with the protection shields and shockabsorbing devices.

An auxiliary slide beam structure (108) (as illustrated in FIGS. 10A,10B and 10C) may be attached to the central member of the Indo-skeletalbeam (101) and locked into the protector shield when the vehicle isready for operation, or be attached to the protector shield and slideout with the Upper Primary Slide (7), and get locked to the centralmember of the Indo-skeletal structure (1) in the operating position

Means for access for passengers in this embodiment as illustrated inFIGS. 5, 6, 10A, 10B and 10C. The seat (109) and secondary slide (111),slide out on the upper Primary Slide (107) to a position that lets theseat (109) protrude from the vehicle such that the passenger may simplystand in front of the seat and sit down on the seat (109). Thereafterthe seat (109) is retracted on the Primary slide to the position asdepicted in FIG. 6, where the Upper Primary slide (107) is locked withthe locking devices (112) in position for operation of the vehicle. Theslide drive mechanism may be powered using approaches well disclosed inthe background art such as servos, and pneumatic or hydraulic systems.The vehicle while in operation should have the Upper Primary Slide (107)retracted and locked. The ignition lock is used in this embodiment toensure this practice.

While extended, the clearance on the side of the vehicle for the EasyEjector will usually be in the range of about 20 inches to 30 inches.This could be substantially less than the clearance required for openinga conventional car door. This is particularly useful for parking inareas with limited clearance.

FIGS. 12A, 12B and 12C illustrates the detail of the seat (109). Theseat (109) may be constructed with customizable multi-elements thatconform to the desired shape and provide the desired support for thepassenger. Such adjustments may be effected using conventional seatcontrol devices. In this figure the Safety Harness (119) is secured tothe sides of the contoured seat (109) between the arm rests (122). Thesafety harness (119) may be designed to protect the passenger in head-oncollisions by providing a soft barrier in close proximity to the bodybut not necessarily touching the body. This arrangement may be preferredto seat belts that do not provide the extended surface area that theharness (119) provides and as result provides greater impact resistancefor the same level of limiting forces that the body can withstand.Moreover, this arrangement may obviate the need for a front collisionairbag as the harness (119) may be high enough to support the face andneck under collision conditions. The harness may be constructed ofpliable but semi-rigid material (such as high strength nylon) to providesupport in a head on collision. A natural benefit of the arrangement ofthe harness (119) and its supports (120) is that lateral forces on theseat are also braced by the harness support (120) in the operatingposition. FIGS. 12 F 2 and 12 G2 illustrate an embodiment of theharness. Moreover the seat (109) may be constructed with reinforcing onthe sides to further protect the passenger from crush injuries. TheSeating surface (121) is illustrated in the same figure as are the armrests (122). In conventional vehicle seat designs the door surfaceprovides the only support on the external side surface which are usuallylimited to arm rests. This seat (109) provides surround support for thepassenger particularly desirable on winding roads. The “Custom contouredseats” customized for each passenger may be created with a multi-elementadjustable structure (manually with inserts or with computer controlledelements) that provide ergonomic passenger comfort providing wheredesired, lateral support in addition to the support that conventionalseats provide, to cradle the entire lower body in the ejector seat.Similarly child seats (123) as in FIG. 12D1, may be designed to protectchildren. Such seats can be inserted into the seat (109). The Safetyharness may also have an attachment for providing greater support forinfants and small children.

ADDITIONAL EMBODIMENTS

While the above embodiment uses a power slide drive, this embodimentdiffers in that a gravity slide drive is employed to move the slides formounting the vehicle. FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 describe this arrangement. Thisembodiment differs in the preferred embodiment above in that the LowerPrimary slide/safety Beam (102, 102′) are pivoted at the Central memberof the indo-skeletal structure with pivots (118). As shown in FIG. 7,this allows the lower slide to fall to a lower of two positions, thatinclines the upper surface of the Lower Primary slide (102) adequatelyto allow the upper Primary slide (107) to slide outwards to the loadingposition assisted by the weight of a passenger in the seat and theadditional assistance of the Spring arrangement (115). The passenger maydismount from the vehicle when the slide is fully extended as shown inFIG. 7. Each side of the vehicle has independent slides and may beoperated by passengers independently.

When the passenger dismounts from the seat the Upper Primary slide (107)in its extended position moves to the higher of two positions about thePivot (118) as illustrated in FIG. 8. This move inclines the Uppersurface of the Lower Primary slide adequately to allow the weight of apassenger to work against the spring arrangement (115) and move theslide to the operating position. This move up of the Lower Primary Slide(107) may be effected by mechanisms well disclosed in the backgroundart. The Slide as depicted in FIG. 8, is now ready for a new Passengersto mount. When the passenger sits on the seat (109), the weight of thepassenger works against the spring mechanism (115) to move the slide tothe operating position as depicted on the left hand side of the FIG. 9and lock the slide in the operating position. The Upper Primary Slidemay be unlocked by the passenger by depressing the Inside Door OpenButton (116). Activating this button in addition allows the lowerprimary slide (102) to move and be locked to the loading inclination—thelower of two positions, and the Upper Primary Slide (107) is free toslide out with the passenger. At this point the arrangement hascompleted a full cycle and is in the position depicted in FIG. 7.

The above cycle represents operation of the Gravity Slide Drive whenthere is a passenger in the seat (109) when the Slide moves to and fromthe operating position as on the left of FIG. 9. When a passengerdismounts however, and the Slide arrangement needs to be retractedwithout a passenger in the seat, the weight of the passenger is nolonger available for aiding the motion of the slide to the operatingposition, and the slide must be pushed in against the action of theSpring Arrangement (115) and locked in place at the operating position.When a new Passenger wishes to mount the vehicle, he/she will press theOutside Door Open Button (117) which releases the catch that holds theUpper Primary Slide beam in place but does not affect the movement ofthe Lower Primary Slide (102) about its pivot (118). The seat as aresult slides out on the Upper Primary Slide assisted by the Springarrangement (115) to the position for mounting the vehicle as depictedin FIG. 7. The spring arrangement (115) is designed to be such that itprovides a force just adequate to move the Upper Primary Slide out withno passenger in the seat.

Some alternative embodiments may have multiple positions for theinclinations of the safety beams from the center of the vehicle, in theloading position to accommodate the varying road inclinations that maymake a single inclination of the safety beam in the loading positioninadequate. In such an embodiment the operator will have the facility toswitch to the best loading inclination dependant on the inclination ofthe road. This will overcome some of the disadvantages of regular cardoors on steep hills. Moreover, this arrangement can also function as ashock absorbing device for the comfort of the passengers in vehiclesunder operating conditions. A possible embodiment to achieve this canhave a range of angular inclinations for the operating position, therange being set so that the transfer of the compressive load on impactthrough to the fixed body members of the vehicle or the central beam isachieved. The Safety beams are spring or shock absorber mounted in avertical plane relative to the central beam and the fixed body membersof the vehicle. When a bump in the road is encountered the safety beamspivot on the center and swing higher at the center thereby isolating thepassenger from the road.

Some embodiments of the multi-element contoured seats may have astructure that provides anatomically accurate support for the body asillustrated in FIGS. 19 A,B,C,D and E. This seat architecture may beused in a wide variety of application s outside vehicles as well.Conventional car seats are a set of two or possibly three rigidstructures—the seat bottom, the back and the head rest. These have somemobility for comfort. However there are two factors that militateagainst their comfort and the level of protective support they canprovide in collision situations. First, one size must fit all passengersand drivers. The mobility provided for the seat bottom, seat back andhead rest provide limited flexibility for passengers of different sizes.Second, there is little lateral support for the body that could be vitalin a side collision, and third, in a vehicle in motion on a roughsurface, the shock absorption provided to all parts of the upper body isthe same.—the seat back is rigid once set up by the passenger—thisstands in contrast with the internal shock absorption of the human body,where the spine provides differential shock absorption to differentparts of the body, increasing the shock absorption towards the head.This last factor implies that conventional seat backs cannot removevibrations from both the top and the bottom of the upper body as thebody's own shock absorption system will move differentially to the seatback along the length of the spine. The embodiments of this inventionillustrated in FIGS. 19, improve these characteristics of seats.

FIGS. 19 A and B show two view of a shadow vertebra of the seat. Thedesign of this vertebra is to provide auxiliary support for the body.The structure shown is one of several possible structures forembodiments of this invention. The body of the vertebra in thisembodiment is split into a left body (164) and a right body (165) theseelements are permanently bonded or fixed together by bolts. The body hastwo cavities on each of the top and the bottom surface—the air cellsockets. These hold two air cells on the left and the right side. Theseair cells are supported on the sides by the air cell retainers (159)that slide in and out of the air cell sockets (166, 167, 171, 172). Theair cells them selves are made of a pliable and inflatable material, oralternatively a material that can fold within the cell supports. Eachpair of air cells are separately inflatable by a multi channel air pumpthat is installed in the seat embodiment. There is a connecting tubebetween the left and the right air cells housed in the lateral tilt aircell visco-elastic damper tube. This tube allows limited air flowbetween the left and the right chambers to permit lateral tilting of thevertebrae relative to each other. This motion hover is corrected by thelateral tilt return spring (160) that ensures that in the normalposition the vertebrae realigned vertically. This lateral tilt returnspring is fixed on one end to a vertebra in the upper fixed slot forlateral tilt return spring (161) and can slide within the next vertebrain the lower sliding slot for lateral tilt return spring (174).Orthogonal support is provided between the vertebrae with the supportflange (162) that is fixed at one end in the lower slot for the supportflange (173) and is slidably mounted in the adjoining vertebra's upperslot for support flange (163). The flange is sized to allow limitedlateral tilting as the vertebra tilts laterally, but provides firm backsupport. Notably the upper and lower slots for the support flange may beinclined slightly so as to take the form of the human spine. The bodycontact is made on the back with the back support adjustable aircushions (170), which in most embodiments are contoured to the shape ofthe bode and is illustrated as an ellipsoid for clarity. These aircushions are inflatable and the pressure may be adjusted to the comfortof the passenger. There may be a spring loaded cable that is threadedthrough the vertebrae to tie them together. The spring loading will workagainst the air cell pressure as the gets elongated with higher air cellpressure. Ideally there can be as many of the shadow vertebrae asvertebrae in the human body although some embodiments may choose someeconomy in the number of such shadow vertebrae. FIG. 19C illustrates twoadjoining shadow vertebrae. One of these are for supporting the thoraxregion and therefore have attached the shadow rib body (175) and therelated shadow rib adjustable air cushions (176) (shown as ellipsoidsfor clarity but in most embodiments will be contoured to take the shapeof the body. These air cushions are inflatable for passenger comfort.The air supply being led to the cushions along the rib body and down theshadow spine to the multiple channel control air pump which alsosupplies air pressure of each of the many air cushions and air cells inthe seat embodiment. The shadow ribs are supported by the tilt controlconnectors(177) that may adjust the angle of the shadow ribs. FIGS. 19 Dand E illustrate one possible version of this embodiment. Here theshadow vertebrae are stacked up to provide support for the head the neckthe shoulders, the thorax and the lumbar region. The head rear supportadjustable air cushions (183) provide forward support for the head whilethe Head lateral support arms with deploying passive air bag (182)provides lateral support particularly during side collisions withdeploying passive micro airbags. Similarly the neck has rear supportfrom neck rear support adjustable air cushions (184) and lateral supportfrom Neck lateral support with deploying passive micro air bag (181).The shoulders are supported by the shoulder bolster (178) and theshoulder bolster adjustable cushions (179). The shoulder bolster beingpivotally attached to a vertebra of the shadow spine and allowed limitedpivotal motion vertically to allow the passenger to move his/her upperarms upwards at normal speed. However, the shoulder bolster will resistrapid motion of the upper arms and shoulders as in a collision therebysupporting the passenger. This differential movement characteristics canbe achieved by approaches well disclosed in the background includingviscous loading of the coupling. Lumbar support is provided by theLumbar support adjustable air cushions (185). The entire array of theshadow vertebrae may be elongated and contracted by changing thepressure in the air cells thereby providing the optimal sizing for allheights of passengers. The lateral support and back support cushions maybe inflated to provide width control and support for passengers ofdifferent shapes. Adjustable hip bolsters provide lateral and forwardsupport while the adjustable pelvic support (187) provides verticalsupport for the passenger. The illustrations exclude the leg and armsupports that are part of the embodiment for sake of clarity. Springsupports can substitute for the air cells in the vertebrae but will nothave the advantage of viscous lateral resistance and independent heightcontrol. Overall height can however be controlled with the cablethreaded through the vertebrae. Motion control of the seat elements canbe achieved with devices well disclosed in the background art includingservos, and pneumatic and hydraulic systems.

Considering the complexity of the seat systems including the multichannel inflators for each of the air cells and the air cushions alongwith the mechanical controls for inclining the shadow ribs and thepelvic and hip supports, it would normally be necessary to use a closedloop feedback with computer control. Pressure sensing of each air filleddevice will provide feedback on the resistant force o the human body andtherefore firmness of the support. This information can be used toprovide the firmness control desired by the passenger. One computercontrolled scheme could be where the passenger inputs gender weight, andheight and the computer alters the size of the seat by inflating anddeflating air cells and cushions accordingly and the provides severalalternative configurations that the customer can select. The customercan then customize firmness and variations on the seat presets.

Finally the shoulder bolsters and shadow ribs may have deploying microaircushions that hold the passenger in the event of a collision.

Yet another variation of this embodiment discharges the air in theadjustable air cushions when passengers leave the seats, and thenreinflate these aircushions when the new passenger sits down with airthat is preheated or precooled to the preferred temperature of thepassenger. Thereafter the air cushions will provide insulation at thattemperature for the seating surface.

Embodiments, particularly those that utilize the indo-skeletal structuremay include the following additional embodiments and variations thereofas support arrangements for a passenger environment and for frontal andrear impact protection in a safe passenger environment and passengercomfort and convenience. The additional structure is illustrated inFIGS. 20 A,B and C. The passenger support platform (198)represents theset of machinery for that purpose. It will take the shape needed tosupport the variety of structures that are described in this invention.It is supported either in the middle or on the edges by the Central bodytubes (188) said support being on attachment surfaces of said centralbody tubes. The first tube that fits into the central body tube is theBody extender tube (189) This optional tube is slidably connected to thecentral body tube and may be moved in and out by servo motors orpneumatic/hydraulic pistons and cylinders (the “first motion controlelements”). However the inner tube is axially supported by a compressionresistant shock absorber (the “first shock absorbing elements”) which inturn is mounted rigidly with regard to the outer central body tube inall positions that the body extender tube can take. The Body extendertube (189) has functions that include extending the wheel base of thevehicle under computer control particularly in drive by wire vehicles,thereby improving the comfort of the vehicle and second increasing thewheel base contingent on vehicle speed such that in the event of acollision there is a longer deceleration space. The shock absorber willbecome longer and shorter to accommodate this need and can for examplebe air shock absorbers. The correlation of speed and length willnormally be computer controlled to provide statistically appropriatedeceleration distances for the speed of the vehicle at any time. Notablythe steering arrangements and other vehicle systems may also need to becompensated to accommodate the change in wheel base to ensure driverconvenience and precise control of the vehicle. The Front end connectortube (190) has a shock absorber (the “second shock absorbing elements”)in series with a servo or pneumatic/hydraulic controlled actuator (the“second motion control elements”) for axial movement in and out of thebody extender tube (189) as does the back end connector tube (191). 190and 191 are connected to the front and back ends respectively (192,193)which include the front and back wheels. and bumper arrangements. Thefront module (194)—which may be the engine or hybrid unit is pivoted onbrackets at the front end of the front end connector tube, therebyallowing the module to rotate upwards about this pivot. Notably themodules (194, 195) will be significantly massive and will require strongsupports and pivots. The front module crank (196) is pivotally attachedto the body extender tube and also pivotally attached to the frontmodule as shown in FIG. 20 A. Similarly the rear module crank (197)moves the rear module. Therefore if there is a movement of the front endtowards the body extender tube the front module crank would swing thefront module about its pivot in the front towards the verticaldirection.

There are at least two functions for this motion. First in the event ofa front collision the force will compress the shock absorbers on the endof the front end connector tube and thereby force the crank to pivot upthe front module. This angular acceleration of the massive front module(massive element) will absorb energy of the impact and acting as a “flywheel”, remove acceleration spikes that the passenger would otherwisesustain and in addition due to its vertical acceleration increase thetraction on the front wheels thereby increasing the braking frictionresistance that can be offered because of an increased force on supportsurfaces. In addition the kinetic energy of the impacting object will beconverted to heat energy in compressing the shock absorbers. Finally inthe event of a collision the inclining front module will divert theimpacting vehicle over the passenger space. This action is illustratedin FIG. 20 C. Second, particularly for drive by wire vehicles, the frontand back end connector tubes may be retracted by servo orpneumatic/hydraulic arrangements, to pivot up the front and back modulesthereby reducing the vehicle length substantially and providing bettercurb visibility to the driver particularly while parking. This isillustrated in FIG. 20 B. Notably the wheels are maintained in the sameorientation to the road surface and may be steered as desired with thesame mechanisms. For conventional vehicle architectures the pivot of thefront module and engine with the front end connector tube should be nearthe wheel axis to facilitate this additional feature.

The same value is derived in the rear structure as the front structurefor rear collisions and in front collisions and in parking. Thearguments are similar.

Another embodiment may have a single but broad set of central body tubebody extender tube and the back/front end connector tubes with a splitfront or back module and connection of the front/back connector tubewith the front/back ends respectively in the middle. Yet anotherconfiguration may have a single central body tube and body extender tubebut then have a “T” shaped structure on the back or the front to haveseparate left and right front and/or back end connector tubes connectedwith the front end at either side. In the event the body extender tubeis not used the connection of the front/back module cranks will be tothe central body tubes.

For embodiments that use an exoskeletal or shell design, an additionalembodiment deploys airbags in the space surrounding the enginecomponents to change the characteristics of the crumple zone. Moreoverin addition some of these embodiments have the passenger cabin slidablyand detachably connected to the rest of the vehicle and mounted behindthese deploying airbags such that on impact, the cabin detaches from thevehicle and slides backwards in a controlled fashion to ensure theintegrity of the cabin.

ALTERNATIVE EMBODIMENTS

In an alternative embodiment to the preferred embodiment, the presentinvention may use hinged Protector Shields (106) that lock into thePrimary Slide (107) when closed. This will allow the arrangement to workfor mounting and dismounting the vehicle with either the Primary Slidesdeactivated or non-operational as well as when they are functional. Theseats may also be mounted on rotating mechanisms or extension armsrather than a primary slide, to assist passengers in mounting anddismounting.

Another alternative embodiment utilizes co-axial sliding mechanisms thatconstitute said rotating mechanisms rather than the primary slides suchthat the fixed and rotating members of said rotating mechanisms have anadequate area of contact and reaction to support lateral collisionforces.

Another alternative embodiment is illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 6A. The“door” that contains the perforation shield (105) with distance/velocitysensors (113), the external airbags (104), the shock absorbers (103) andthe protector shields (106), hinges down on the pivot (112A) to providesupport for the upper primary slide. The inner surface of the Protectorshield is designed to perform the function of the lower Primary slide(102). This embodiment will be particularly useful for larger vehicleswith a plurality of seats on each side of the vehicle. These multipleseats may be mounted on separate sections of upper primary and secondaryslides.

Another alternative embodiment is illustrated in FIGS. 1D to 4D wherethe Shock Absorbers (103) excluding the External Air bags (104) aremounted on the inner surface of the protector shields (106). As may beseen from the drawings, in this particular embodiment, the shockabsorber excluding the external air bags are locked directly to thelower primary slide (102, 102′) in the operating position, although inanother configuration the locks my be between the protector shield andthe lower primary slide in the operating position. Such embodiments maybe designed to allow limited intrusion of the protector shield withresistance provided by the shock absorber (103) thereby reducing thepeak acceleration sustained by the vehicle body under impact. Notably,as the passenger environment is protected and moves away from theimpact, crush injury to the passenger is avoided. This is a uniquefeature of this invention where both the crush injury of the passengerand the peak acceleration of the vehicle (and the passenger as a result)may be minimized at the same time. Conventional designs try to minimizeintrusion by bracing the side of the vehicle with beams and therebyincreasing the peak acceleration of the vehicle, or increasing intrusionto reduce the peak acceleration but allowing greater crush injury.

Another alternative embodiment may have a contoured safety harness witha different shape to that of the preferred embodiment. FIGS. 12 A 1 to12 C1 illustrate an embodiment of a safety harness using a slightlydifferent geometry but performing the same function in the same way asin the preferred embodiment.

Some embodiments of the multi-element contoured seat may have sides thatfold down and away from the passenger. This feature is useful for theinner side of the passengers near the side of the vehicle and for bothsides of the passengers in the middle of the vehicle, if the centerseats are fixed and not eject able. Notably however, the sides lock inthe operating position and brace the seat from lateral compression,thereby protecting the passenger.

Some embodiments of the seats may have sides that could include armrests, side bolsters and other elements as disclosed in this invention,that that drop down or back on the door or access side at the time ofegress and ingress, particularly in embodiments that use conventionaldoors for access. Activation for these movements can be with theswitching on and off of the ignition switch for the vehicle.

Yet another embodiment raises he seat bottom at the time of egress andingress with servos or pneumatic/hydraulic systems, so that the seatmembers on the sides of the sat are relatively lower to the seat bottomthereby facilitating egress and ingress of the passenger. Moreover,arrangements to raise the seat bottom may in addition in someembodiments help negotiate a high “door” sill by the sliding or rotatingseats at egress and ingress.

Yet another embodiment using conventional doors, has the arm rests onthe door side integrated in to the doors but protected and decoupledfrom the door members on its outside by inside air bags. This designwould have these arm rests locking into the seat when the door is closedthereby providing the decoupling for the entire seat with the insideairbag during lateral impact.

Another alternative embodiment uses shock absorbing devices mounted ateach end on each of the two surfaces of the impact decoupler/secondaryslide substituting or supplementing the inside airbags.

Another alternative embodiment may have an auxiliary slide behind theseat and of any convenient height. This embodiment is shown in FIGS.1C-4 C. The figures illustrate the working of the current invention witha high section of the central member of the indo skeletal structurebehind the seats, but abutting the auxiliary beams in the operatingposition. As the High section of the central member (101) is behind theseats and the secondary slides (111), the seats and the secondary slidesare free to move across the vehicle under impact as shown in FIG. 4 C.

Yet another alternative embodiment has an external seat profile asillustrated in FIG. 12 E 1. The higher rectangular external profileprovides greater protection to the passenger.

Yet another alternative embodiment has a vertical extension/“safetycage” (125) as shown in FIG. 10 A1, 10B1 and 10C1. Here the verticalextension/safety cage engages a beam across the top of the vehicle thatmay be supported by the shell structure of the vehicle (the figure showsonly half the width of the vehicle). Such a safety cage/verticalextension can provide protection in a roll over situation and alsoprovide additional compressive strength for the vehicle, and mayfunction as a fixed or retractable roll bar. In some embodiments such avertical extension “safety cage” will perform the function of the “B”pillar of the vehicle under lateral impact. Notably no “B” pillar isneeded to support rear door hinges in the present invention. Moreover,in some embodiments the beam arrangement across the top of the vehicleor other support structures on the roof section of the shell may bedesigned to be rigid on compression but telescope out with the secondaryslides under impact using appropriate logic to drive the lockingmechanisms, thereby providing a protective cage even when the seat is inthe ejected state.

Yet another embodiment, deters a roll over following side impact, byimplementing an “outrigger” arrangement having reinforced upper primaryslides and/or secondary slides and bracing brackets anchored to thefixed members of the vehicle that hold these slides in their extendedsubstantially horizontal position after extension under impact, withoutpermitting them to buckle under a vertical forces encountered under theinitial stage of a roll over situation.

The preferred embodiment has the external airbags or shock absorberstriggered on detection of an expected impact as noted. This implies thaton the far side (non-impact side) if there is possible secondary impactfrom a second object, the same mechanisms will deploy the externalairbags on the second side, thereby protecting the far side occupant inthe event of a second object hitting the vehicle soon after the first.An alternative embodiment can have distance/velocity sensors mounted inpositions on the front and back edge of the perforation shields orprotector shields to facilitate better detection of objects approachingthe vehicle at wide angles to the perpendicular direction. Yet anotheralternative embodiment to this will have both impact side and far sideexternal airbags deploy on detection of the first impact.

Another alternative embodiment has a safety harness/shield asillustrated in FIG. 12H2. This embodiment of the safety harness ismounted on spring loaded hinged supports at the head support section ofthe multi element adjustable seat (137)—similar to conventional supportsfor the headrest, and to lockable supports between the arm rests (138)or on the side bolsters of the multi element adjustable seat. The springloading will support the weight of the harness and thereby retract theharness when unlocked. The harness includes a hinged and spring mountedshield (130) that may pivot on the lower safety harness support (138),The passenger side of the shield, has on its surface an implementationof a Passive Air Cushion System that uses the pressure in one or moresacrificial chambers which under pressure transfer air to one or moremicro-air cushions that protect high priority anatomical regions. Inthis embodiment, the passive anatomical micro air cushion (131), derivesit inflation source from the sacrificial chamber (139) at the lower endof the shield of the safety harness, that is compressed by a muchgreater body mass under impact. In a frontal collision the force of themore massive parts of the body on the sacrificial chamber will deploythe passive anatomical micro-air cushions to protect the face and theneck. The narrower sections of the aircushions and flow controlmechanisms if installed, will cause some visco-elastic behavior and inaddition cause air speed amplification to create faster deployment.While this mechanism activates the shield (130) may pivot down to takesome of the impact energy. The shield is shaped to the contour of thehuman body head and neck when it is forced forward as in a frontalcollision. This embodiment may in addition have multiple or variableposition harness support anchor points on the arm rests or the sidebolsters that are part of the multi-element seat, to accommodate peopleof different proportions. Moreover this embodiment may have in additionan additional bracket that moves the anchor point of the lower safetyharness locking supports substantially forward, and provides asupplementary passive anatomical micro-air-cushion that can be mountedon the permanent micro-air-cushion on the shield, to accommodatepregnant women, and the special critical force distribution they canwithstand.

In this embodiment, the two pivoted arms swing forward under collisionforces the moment created by the shield with the body pressure againstit, and extends the upper extending arms (133) to absorb some of theshock and to provide a space for the forward movement of the upper body.The elbows (132) facilitate the relative angular movement of the upperarms and lower arms of the safety harness (133,134). They are springloaded to ensure that they support the lower parts of the harness whenunlocked to allow the entire harness to move up and away from the bodywhen unlocked without any force being applied. Under side impact thepassive anatomical head and neck micro-air-cushions deploy to protectthe head and neck under relative lateral acceleration. Notably thepassive anatomical head and neck micro-air-cushions can be activelydeployed or as in this embodiment passively deployed by a discharge ofair from sacrificial chambers between the seats or on the outer surfaceof the seats and mounted on each of the seats, so that lateral pressurewill inflate the anatomical head and neck micro-air-cushions. Thesacrificial chambers offer secondary impact protection by cushioning theseat. Notably this embodiment does not use any active airbags in thevicinity of the human body, reducing the risks associated with the highenergy external deployment devices. The adjustable head rest (136)follows conventional design but is here mounted on the safety harnesshinged mounts.

FIG. 12 I2 shows the passive anatomical micro-air-cushions deployed (thesacrificial chamber has been compressed and the top region is full andready to protect the face and neck in a frontal impact. FIG. 12 J2 showsthe anatomical head and neck passive micro airbags deployed under sideimpact, ready to support the head and neck in a side collision. Notablythis embodiment uses a new concept where the impact energy is redeployedfor protecting vital parts of the impacted object which are oftenembedded inside the object, using fluid transfer—in this case airtransfer. Force and velocity amplification or deamplification can beachieved with the geometry of the interconnections, the sacrificialchambers and the micro-air-cushions. The sacrificial chambers can beused for secondary impact protection as well by carefully controllingthe flow parameters. This is illustrated in FIG. 17. The approachobviates the need for active airbag technologies in the vicinity ofsensitive equipment, living organisms and indeed people.

This embodiment of the harness allows movement within the vehicle forpassengers when it is unlocked and allowed to swing up within thevehicle as shown in FIG. 16D. However, visibility is somewhat obstructedpreventing the driver from driving without locking the harness in place.

In this embodiment of the safety harness entering and leaving thevehicle are facilitated by the entire device swinging away from the bodyas shown in FIGS. 16 A,B and C. The passenger simply needs to stand upto leave. To enter the passenger simply sit down and place his/her feeton the foot rest (141) and retract the slider mechanism. This embodimentalso has radar or infrared detectors as on elevator doors to detectlimbs in the way of the retracting sliding mechanism for the protectionof the passengers.

FIG. 15C shows the parts of this embodiment and the adjustable armrests.

Another embodiment of the shield on the safety harness has a foldingsection at the top that can be straightened and locked in place foradults and folded down for children.

Another embodiment uses flexible netting on part of the shield surfaceto protect passengers under impact. In this embodiment, the shield. hasa frame on which the netting is deployed. The upper end of the frame isadequately bent forward and then downwards to ensure that the passengerhead and neck do not strike the frame under frontal collision. In yetanother embodiment of this arrangement, the shield of flexible nettingis designed for the head and neck and is normally retracted forward, anddeployed on impact by initial forces by the lower torso of the passengeragainst the lower part of the safety harness/shield.

Yet another variation of this safety harness with netting on a frame,has telescoping frame members on the sides so that the height of theframe is adjustable by retraction of the telescoping members toaccommodate children and small adults.

Yet another embodiment of the harness has an upper section of the safetyharness consisting of spring mounted support arms mounted in thevicinity of the head rest and designed—when pulled down by thepassenger—to swing down and over the passenger head and in front of thepassenger. The support arms each having telescoping sections thatconnect to the shield, such telescoping sections having arrangements foran inertial ratcheting that prevent extension of these telescoping armsin the event of a sudden tension as in an impact. The lower section ofthe harness consists of short adjustable belts or arms that can belocked on the sides of the seat or on the inside of the arm rests as ina four point seat belt. This embodiment provides all the benefits of afour point seat belt but in addition has the benefit of head and necksupport in the event of a collision. This arrangement allows protectionwith the telescoping sections and the adjustments on the lower end ofthe harness for different sized passengers.

Yet another embodiment utilizes the passive anatomical micro air cushion(131) at the top of the shield/harness that derives its inflation sourcefrom the sacrificial chamber (139) at the lower end of the safetyshield/harness. However, in this embodiment the anatomical micro aircushion is limited to only the top edge of the shield to support thehead, neck and the upper thorax when deployed under collisionconditions. This anatomical micro air cushion (131) is supported bypairs of telescoping tubes the lower member of each such tubes beingfixed to the harness/shield support in the vicinity of the sacrificialchamber, and the upper member of each pair of telescoping tubes areattached to the passive anatomical micro air cushion (131). The outertubes have contoured semi-rigid materials to conform broadly to the bodyshape. The lower and upper members of each pair telescope into oneanother co-axially, and are lockable in different longitudinal positionsrelative to the other member of the pair, thereby providing for avariable height anatomical micro air cushion. Airflow under deploymentconditions is conducted either directly through said telescoping tubesor separate tubes that have an “accordion” collapsible structure thatcan extend as the telescoping tubes do, and may be placed inside saidtelescoping tubes. The length of the telescoping tubes may be manuallyset with the locks or in other embodiments set by automated or computercontrols that sense the size of the passenger from selected elements ofthe multi-element contoured seat.

Yet another embodiment has a harness as in FIG. 12H2 except that thereis a safety harness support arm only on the outer side of the passengertowards the side of the vehicle. (i.e in some of these embodiments thereis one Safety Harness elbow (132), one Safety Harness extending upperarm (133) and one Safety Harness Pivoting lower arm (134). Moreover thesafety harness/shield support arm is designed such that upon releasefrom across the lap of the passenger, the shield flips to a verticalplane in the vicinity of the vertical plane of said support arm. Therebypermitting the safety harness to swing over the head of the passengereven when the seat is only partially displaced for entry or exit fromthe vehicle. Often this may be useful when there is limited access spacenext to the vehicle.

Yet another embodiment, principally for vehicles with drive by wiretechnologies, has the vehicle controls mounted on the shield . If asteering wheel is used this may be mounted on the front surface of theshield (on the surface opposite the passenger). The steering wheel orother controls may have distance adjustments for ergonomic positioning.

Yet another embodiment principally for drive by wire technologies, hasthe driver controls mounted on the contoured arm rests of the car.Adjustments for the arm rests will include further controls for theergonomic positioning of these controls on the arm rests.

Vehicles, principally those that utilize drive by wire technologies witheither of the above configurations, will have the entire area below thewindshield free of controls. This embodiment utilizes this area for aGPS driven positioning display that mimics the view ahead of the driver.The display system may use vector imaging techniques or non-linear imagemapping techniques that are well disclosed in the background art thatprovide the same perspective to the driver on the display as what hesees on the road ahead, thereby minimizing mental processing ofinformation in establishing a correspondence between the image and theactual physical position and orientation of the vehicle thereby reducingreaction time for action by the driver. Furthermore, the positioning ofthe display just below the screen ensures that there is minimal spatialdisorientation of the driver in turning his/her head to look at thescreen thereby reducing further the mental information processing needsand improving further the reaction time of the driver. In someembodiments when there are controls such as a steering wheel in front ofthe driver, a fixed or a “pop up” screen just below the windshield or aprojection onto the lower windshield may be utilized. The image mayinclude the destination and path to that destination and may be at adifferent scale to the perspective of the driver ahead of the vehicle.This embodiment and variations provide a unique system that conventionalGPS navigation systems do not provide in speeding up driver reactiontimes.

Another embodiment has air conditioning micro-ducts on the seatingsurfaces and the safety harness/shields, for the comfort of passengers,particularly in open vehicles.

Another alternative embodiment has the “Open” switch for the slide onthe inside of the vehicle designed the “press bar” so that the intuitivereaction of the passenger to “open the door” is harnessed. However, thiscan be deactivated when the vehicle is in motion.

Another alternative embodiment has a center console that is designed tocrush under impact as shown in FIGS. 1F-4F, thereby minimizing theejection of the far side passenger on impact.

Another alternative embodiment has the internal airbag partially filledat all times, so that in the event of no deployment of the externalairbags either because of technology failure or non installation orother reason, the passenger and seat arrangement are cushioned evenprior to further inflation of the internal airbag on deployment onimpact. Shock absorbers may supplement the operation of the internalairbags in this embodiment with partially inflated internal airbagsunder normal operating conditions.

Another alternative embodiment can have the internal airbags deployed onimpact as noted with such deployment effected by inflation by some ofthe compressed air of the external airbags on impact, thereby providing“acceleration de-amplificafion” for the movement of the passengers onimpact.

Yet another embodiment has proactive sensors deploying the internalairbags directly, without the installation of external airbags.

Yet another embodiment of the invention has a retracting canopy storedin the roof of the vehicle, and attachable to the protector shield orattached components such as the side window, when desired. Whenattached, the canopy will deploy over the seats when in the extended orloading positions, thereby protecting the seat and the passenger fromrain or other snow while entering or leaving the vehicle.

Yet another embodiment has external airbags constructed using thePassive Air-Cushion System with micro chambers that are connected toeach other by restricted paths that provide visco elastic energyabsorption in the event of some sections of the airbag being impactedwhile others are not, thereby forcing air from the compressed microchambers to the other micro chambers, each of the micro chambersfunctioning as either a sacrificial chamber or a Micro Air Cushion onimpact. This embodiment may of course have external airbags proactivelydeployed in the manner described herein, prior to impact and theirperformance as Micro Air Cushion systems. Yet another variation mayinclude one-way valves between the chamber directly connected to theinflation source and each of the micro-chambers (implement able forexample with flaps against an aperture) so that inflation may beachieved rapidly, and then the Passive Air-cushion benefits realized onimpact.

Yet another embodiment uses the Passive Air-cushion system to protectpassengers from “Whip Lash” injury, by providing Micro Air-cushions inthe vicinity of the head and neck, and providing sacrificial chambersthat are compressed in the event of a rear end collision. In someembodiments the sacrificial chamber can be mounted below the seat withone face mounted to the vehicle structure and the other face mounted tothe seat of the passenger, the seat being mounted to the supportstructure to allow controlled limited rearward movement relative to itsmountings to allow compression of the sacrificial chamber by theinertial mass of the passenger and seat on impact.

Yet another embodiment utilizes multiple adjoining but separate PassiveAir-cushion systems where one such system connects the external airbags(sacrificial chambers) with internal airbags (micro Air-cushions), andanother such system connects different and distinct internal airbags(sacrificial chambers) to micro Air-cushions in the vicinity of thepassenger's body, thereby creating a cascading system of Passive Aircushion systems. These embodiments may of course have external airbagsproactively deployed in the manner described herein, prior to impact andtheir performance as Micro Air Cushion systems.

Yet another embodiment utilizes an auxiliary brake attached to thesecondary slides in addition to the friction limited slidingarrangements of the secondary slide, to provide a further control on therate of movement of the secondary slide under side or lateral impact.

Yet another embodiment utilizes a foot safety switch attached to thefoot rest, that activates the sliding mechanism to move the slidingseats into and out of the vehicle. The foot rest in some suchembodiments may be bar that is depressed to move the slide into and outof the vehicle. These foot rests being designed to avoid ankle injuriesin the event of rear collisions sustained by the vehicle.

Yet another embodiment uses supplementary porous filling materialswithin prefilled internal airbags designed with suitable vents to changethe compression characteristics of the inside airbags under impact.

Yet another embodiment utilizes pressure memory capable materials on thesurface of the seats or passenger supports so that surround seatscontour to the exact shape of the body for further comfort of passengersand also better support under collision conditions.

Yet another embodiment, has wheel chairs as passenger support mechanismsfor the disabled, with collapsible wheels such that the chairs may bebacked into clamps that attach on the lower side of the chair supports.In some such embodiments (as illustrated in FIGS. 18A to 18 J) theseclamps along with the lower cushion of the car seat 148—(which isspecially made to accommodate the chair support cross members), areextended forward on tertiary slides or extension arms with hydraulicautomation, such that the movement forward and if necessary down,supports the wheel chair by locking the chair clamps 149 to the chaircross supports 150, and then providing adequate support for thepassenger and the wheel chair. The Tertiary Slides or extension arm issupported by the impact decoupler/Secondary Slides which are in turnattached to the Upper Primary Slides in the extended or loadingposition. FIG. 18B illustrates the position of the seat bottom and clamsjust below the wheel chair prior to attachment to the wheel chair. Oncethe hydraulic mechanism raises the wheel chair off the ground, thePrimary Pivot of the rear wheels 151 may be unlocked and the wheel swungup backwards and locked as noted in FIG. 18C. Notably the Rear wheelssupport much of the passenger weight when the wheel chair is used andtherefore in addition to the pivoting Principal Rear Wheel Support 152the rear wheel in addition has a Rear Wheel Support Strut 153 thatsupports the compressive load when the wheel chair is operational.Threafter the front wheels may be unlocked and swung back on the PrimaryPivots for the Front Wheel 157. This is illustrated in FIG. 18 D.

Thereafter the space below the wheel chair is clear and the tertiaryslide or arm mechanism can move the wheel chair back and lock it withand against the Seatback 156 which is specially shaped to accommodatethe cross support members of the wheel chair. This is illustrated inFIG. 18 E. Some such embodiments may have the option to release therigid back support mounting of the wheel chair 158, and thereby benefitfrom the reclining options of the vehicle seat back. In the process ofmoving back to the seat back 156, the spring loaded locking sleeves 155,that support the Secondary pivot for rear wheel retraction 144 arepushed forward relative to the wheel chair body thereby releasing theSecondary Pivot for rear wheel retraction 154 to allow the wheels toswing in and lock behind the seat back 156. This is illustrated in FIG.18F. The wheel chair is then in a position on the extended impactdecoupler/secondary slide to be transported into the vehicle. Notably inthis wheel chair conversion embodiment, supplementary side and back aircushions may be inflated to fill in the areas where wheel chair supportmembers are in the vicinity of the passenger and also to hold the wheelchair structure securely, thereby providing further protection in theevent of a collision of the vehicle. This wheel chair conversionembodiment has all the side impact protection as the regular seat andhas all the options for front impact protection of the safetyshield/harness or more conventional options. FIG. 18 G shows a plan viewof the wheel chair prior to the insertion of Seat lower cushion andsupport structure. FIG. 18 H illustrates an elevation view of the wheelchair and the seat lower cushion and support structure. Still other ofthese embodiments may use turn tables or other rotating mechanismsrather than the tertiary sliding arrangements or extending arms so thatthe wheel chair may be directly loaded on a turn table mounted on theimpact decoupler/secondary slides, and then rotated into a driving orpassenger position when retracted into the vehicle.

Yet another embodiment has anatomical micro-aircushions on the left andright edges of the support surface of the safety shield connected toselected sacrificial chambers along the bottom edge of said supportsurface. This will provide additional support for the passenger in aside impact, by assisting in preventing body movement outside thecontoured seat under collision conditions.

Yet another embodiment has anatomical micro-aircushions on the outeredges of each of the contoured seats, particularly to cover a part ofthe front of the shoulders the legs and torso in the event of a sidecollision. These anatomical air-cushions use sacrificial chambers on thesides of the seats.

Yet another embodiment minimizes ejection hazards by controlling furtherthe lateral movement of the seats under side impact. In theseembodiments, the Upper primary slide is connected to the lockingmechanisms that hold it to the vehicle under operating conditionsthrough shock absorbers or spring mechanisms that allow controlledmovement of the upper primary slides out of the vehicle when the vehiclesustains a side impact from the far side. In such embodiments the locksdo not disengage when there is a side impact, as the shock absorbingdevices provide the required controlled lateral movement of the far sideupper primary slide under impact.

Yet another embodiment has a flexible stretchable (or folded) materialthat is bound to the protector shield and the “doors” of the vehicle onone of its edges where it makes contact normally with the vehicle body,the other edge of the flexible and stretchable material is bound to aframe that locks to the vehicle body under operating conditions. Undernormal egress and ingress the frame along with the “doors” with theflexible, stretchable material operates as one unit the frame being heldtogether with the “door” with door impact decouplers that fracture ordisengage under impact, thereby allowing the “door” and the upperprimary slide on the far side to extend out of the vehicle while theframe remains locked to the vehicle, and stretching the flexible,stretchable material so that passenger body extremities are not ejectedfrom the vehicle but are retained by the flexible stretchable materialwithin the vehicle.

Yet another embodiment has preinflated inside airbags that are deflatedwhen seats move outwards (on the far side) under impact, therebycreating more space within the vehicle, minimizing the need for ejectionon the far side under impact.

CONCLUSIONS, RAMIFICATIONS & SCOPE

Thus it will become apparent that the present invention presented,provides a new paradigm for implementing key safety features andproviding utility in accessing passenger vehicles and comfort intravelling in such vehicles. While the above description provides manyspecificities, these should not be construed as limitations on the scopeof the present invention, but rather as an exemplification of thepreferred, an additional and an alternative embodiment thereof. Manyother variations are possible.

The present invention provides an arrangement that diverts the impactenergy in impacts away from the passengers to the remaining mass of thevehicle thereby protecting the passengers but decelerating the impactingobject with the remaining mass of the vehicle. Moreover the arrangementsynergistically provides a means for utilitarian easy access to thevehicle for passengers and drivers alike and allows the installation ofmulti-element surround contoured seats for the comfort and protection ofpassengers. Furthermore, the arrangement allows the installation of anew and unique safety harness that may obviate the need for safety beltsand front impact airbags for protection in head-on collisions. Thisarrangement differs sharply from the Background art in that it does notsimply offer to the impacting body a reinforced rigid shell where thepassenger is treated as part of this integral unit, but rather providesselective and differential treatment of the mass of the passengers anddriver of the vehicle vis-à-vis the remaining mass of the vehicle.Furthermore the present invention differs sharply from the Backgroundart in that the resulting structure synergistically permits theinstallation of contoured multi-element surround seats that would not beimplementable without the slide arrangements on either side of thevehicle in the present invention.

The present invention provides a gravity slide drive for my arrangementfor which there is no counterpart in the Background art. This allowsfurther Utility and weight and energy saving in implementing the aboveelements of the present invention.

The present invention includes External side Airbags that differ sharplyfrom the Background art in that for the first time they proactivelycreate a “Just in Time” deceleration zone for the lateral or side impactwith internal and/or external side airbags while not remaining in anextended position under normal operating conditions of the vehicle.

The present invention describes an indo-skeletal structure of thevehicle body that permits the energy transfer from the lateral or sideimpact through compressive members to the body of the vehicle. Unlikethe Background art this indo-skeletal structure is designed to transferenergy to the body of the vehicle without transferring it to thepassengers and driver of the vehicle. The passengers are targeted forprotection with “Safety zones”.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vehicle having a vehicle structure, saidvehicle comprising a front end and a back end supported on a supportsurface and said vehicle comprising a passenger environment, wherein oneor both of said ends of said vehicle comprise a module with an innerend, an outer end, a mass, and a horizontal length along a longitudinalaxis of the vehicle, said vehicle further including means for connectingeach module to the vehicle structure for selectively diverting energy ofan impact away from said passenger environment to the module byresisting said impact with a transfer of energy to said module therebyprotecting passengers, while maintaining said passenger environment atsubstantially the same distance from said support surface.
 2. Thevehicle of claim 1, wherein each of said modules is pivotally attachedat its outer end to said vehicle structure about a horizontal lateralaxis, and wherein said vehicle structure comprises a support arrangementfor one of the front and rear of a passenger support platform comprisingsaid passenger environment, said support arrangement comprising: a) atleast one central body tube with a first end and at least one attachmentsurface, said at least one central body tube being attached by said atleast one attachment surface to said passenger support platform; b) atleast one body extender tube with a first end and a second end, each ofsaid at least one body extender tubes being connected by its first endto the first end of each of said at least one central body tubes; c) atleast one end connector tube that is connected with an end section ofthe vehicle comprising wheels and a bumper arrangement, said at leastone end connector tube being slidably connected to each of said at leastone body extender tubes, and is further attached to said body extendertube by controllable shock absorbing elements, thereby allowing said atleast one end connector tube to slide in and out of said at least onebody extender tube under impact forces; d) at least one crank with afirst end and a second end, each of said at least one cranks beingattached at the first end thereof to the module near the inner end ofsaid module, and each of said at least one cranks being attached at thesecond end to the at least one body extender tube, thereby pivoting saidmodule upwardly when said at least one extender tube slides into the atleast one body extender tube; thereby, under impact, said supportarrangement providing a shock absorbing device that includes thecontrollable shock absorbing elements connected between the at least oneconnector tube and the at least one body extender tube along withdamping action of the module which is forced to pivot upwardly andabsorb impact energy, and thereby under impact, said support arrangementalso providing, while generating a vertical acceleration of the mass ofsaid module, a greater reactive force on said vehicle support surfaceand thereby generating a greater traction force for said vehicle.
 3. Thevehicle of claim 2, wherein said at least one body extender tube isfixedly attached to said at least one central body tube.
 4. The vehicleof claim 2, wherein said at least one body extender tube is slidablyattached to said central body tube and is also attached to said centralbody tube with one or both of second controllable shock absorbingelements and motion control elements, thereby enabling said at least onebody extender tube to slide in and out of said at least one central bodytube, whereby a wheel base of said vehicle may be reduced and extendedwhile said vehicle is in operation in order to increase one or both ofcomfort levels for passengers and the length of a deceleration zone forimpact protection of said passengers.
 5. A vehicle having a vehiclestructure and a module having an inner end, an outer end, a mass, and ahorizontal length along a longitudinal axis of said vehicle, whereinsaid module is pivotally attached at its outer end about a lateral axisto said vehicle structure, said vehicle structure comprising a supportarrangement for one of the front and rear of a passenger supportplatform comprising a passenger environment, said support arrangementcomprising: a) at least one central body tube with a first end and atleast one attachment surface, said at least one central body tube beingattached by said at least one attachment surface to said passengersupport platform; b) at least one body extender tube with a first endand a second end, each of said at least one body extender tubes beingconnected by its first end to the first end of each of said at least onecentral body tubes; c) at least one end connector tube that is connectedwith an end section of the vehicle comprising wheels and a bumperarrangement, said at least one end connector tube being slidablyconnected to each of said at least one body extender tubes, and isfurther attached to said body extender tube by motion control elements,thereby allowing said at least one end connector tube to slide in andout of said at least one body extender tube; d) at least one crank witha first end and a second end, each of said at least one cranks beingattached at the first end thereof to the module near the inner end ofsaid module, and each of said at least one cranks being attached at thesecond end to the at least one body extender tube, thereby pivoting saidmodule upwardly when said at least one connector tube slides into the atleast one body extender tube; thereby, under normal operatingconditions, providing an arrangement to retract at least one of the endsections by sliding said at least one end connector tube into the atleast one body extender tube using said motion control elements, andthereby forcing said at least one module to pivot upwardly and reduceits horizontal length along a longitudinal axis of said vehicle with theforce applied by the at least one crank resulting in a shorter wheelbase for one or both of greater maneuverability of said vehicle and curbvisibility for a passenger in said vehicle.
 6. The vehicle of claim 5,wherein said at least one body extender tube is fixedly connected tosaid at least one central body tube.
 7. The vehicle of claim 5, whereinsaid at least one body extender tube is slidably attached to saidcentral body tube, said slidable attachment having one or both of asecond controllable shock absorbing elements and second motion controlelements, thereby enabling said at least one body extender tube to slidein and out of said at least one central body tube, whereby a wheel baseof said vehicle may be extended while in operation to increase one orboth of comfort levels for passengers and the length of the decelerationzone for impact protection.
 8. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein thediversion of the energy of impact away from the safe passengerenvironment comprises partially converting the energy of an impact fromlinear kinetic energy into rotational kinetic energy by rotation of atleast one of the modules.
 9. A method of diverting energy away from atleast one passenger in a vehicle on a support surface in front or rearimpacts, said vehicle having a vehicle structure and comprising a frontend and a back end supported on a support surface and comprising apassenger environment, wherein one or both of said ends of said vehiclecomprise a module with an inner end, an outer end, a mass, and ahorizontal length along a longitudinal axis of the vehicle, said vehiclefurther including means for connecting each module to the vehiclestructure; the method comprising rotating the modules of said vehiclewhile maintaining the passenger environment at substantially the samevertical distance from said support surface, thereby partiallyconverting kinetic energy of linear motion of an impacting body intorotational kinetic energy.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein thevehicle structure includes longitudinal telescoping frame members withshock absorber elements therein, the method further includingcompressing said shock absorber elements and thereby partiallyconverting kinetic energy of said impacting body into heat energy, saidshock absorbing elements being arranged such that they may compresswithout obstruction by a significant fraction of the length of thevehicle.